I appreciate what the authors tried, and somewhat succeeded to do in this book. They brought together warriors of past decades and intertwined their fates
The book describes the long relationship between Polish & US intelligence agencies. Poland has been trying to come out from under the heavy hand of the Russians
The author tells real stories of real soldiers that have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, some are new to the military and others are veterans of other conflicts
Being embedded with American troops is no joke, as he soon finds out
Mr. Sjursen also shares his own personal views about the war, professional soldering, the ugly business of managing an occupation and the even uglier politics of inserting yourself in the middle of a sectarian civil war.
The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War by Fred Kaplan is a thought provoking book which tells a good story and asks some hard hitting questions. The book is divided into three parts: the post-Vietnam era and introduction of counterinsurgency (COIN) warfare line of thinking into the US military, the history of COIN in Afghanistan and Iraq (with input from Washington politicians), and a third part which analyzes what was accomplished and the value of this strategy.
t’s amazing to read about the history of the Talmud paralleled that of the Jewish people. During the pogroms and ages which anti-Semitism was a societal and politically accepted, those who seek to destroy the Jews tried also to destroy the Talmud, mainly because they didn’t understand what it was about (ridiculously bringing about the blood-libel scenarios over and over).
The start of the buildup of the Gulf War (1990) is where the book takes off to relevancy not only when published, but today also since we are still facing some of those issues, as well as many others. General Schwarzkopf was assigned to Central Command not long before Iraq invaded Kuwait, in this book the General states that he prepared his troops for war in the Middle East since, to his estimation, a war in Europe is unlikely. As Bush 41 made it clear that Iraqi aggression will not go unnoticed, General Schwarzkopf realized that he might be at the center of fight.
Article first published as Book Review: Fragments from Iraq by Zsolt T. Stockinger on Blogcritics. “[W]hen Allah created hell, it wasn’t terrible enough, so he made Iraq – and added flies.” Old Arab saying (page 81). About: Fragments from Iraq: Diary of […]
About: Late for Tea at the Deer Palace : The Lost Dreams of My Iraqi Family by Tamara Chalabi is a book which was hard to classify. Part history, part cultural, part fictional and non-fictional family saga and all about a bygone […]